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The First Duty (episode)
A member of Wesley Crusher's flight team is killed in an accident, and it appears that there may be a coverup. Summary After performing a flying maneuver forbidden by Starfleet, the Kolvoord Starburst, Wesley Crusher and three of his academy friends are faced with an inquisition due to the death of the fifth member of their team, Joshua Albert. After Wesley finally confessed to their mistake at the last minute, the leader of their team, Nicholas Locarno, was expelled from the academy and Wesley and the other two members of team Nova Squadron were given a formal repremand and held back a year in the academy, with all their credits from that year made null and void. Act One Captain Picard receives a message from Rear Admiral Brand of Starfleet Academy, informing him of an accident involving Wesley Crusher's flight team. The USS Enterprise alters course to Earth. Picard approaches Doctor Crusher and informs her what happened. She is notably concerned about her son; however, Picard attempts to comfort her and tell her that Wesley is fine. Once the Enterprise arrives at Earth, they arrive to hear that the Admiral is forming an investigation of the accident, where a cadet, Joshua Albert, was killed in a collision during a flight test. Joshua's father, a Lieuteant Commander in Starfleet, is consulted and requests that commencement ceremonies go forward despite plans to cancel them due to the tragedy. After all, there is still duty to perform and Life must go on. Picard and Dr. Crusher go to Wesley's quarters. Picard attemps to talk to Wesley about what happens, but he refuses, saying that he had gone over it too many times at the inquiry over the past two days. They are interrupted by the leader of the team, Nicholas Locarno, who says that he was there to check on Wesley. Locarno says that he feels horrible that he has lost a member of his team. Picard says that unfortunately it never gets easier. Wesley then asks Picard and Crusher to leave, saying that he had to talk to Locarno about some things. After Picard and Crusher leave, Locarno says not to worry about the inquiry and everything will be fine. Act Two Captain Picard walks through the quad of Starfleet Academy and finds Boothby, the Academy groundskeeper. He catches up with him and reminisces about his days in the Academy. Meanwhile, Locarno gives a pep talk to his team before entering the room for the board of inquiry into the accident involving his team. During his deposition, Locarno says that while performing a maneuver, Admiral Brand asks the team navigator if they had changed their flight plan. When the navigator gives a cryptic response of "it was still within flight safety limits," the Admiral was angry, stating that that was not the answer to her question. She then says yes, they did change their flight patterns. Captain Satelk, a Vulcan, asks why the team navigator, who had the best vantage point of the crash, did not see the ships collide. She says that she didn't see him, citing that she was flying on sensors alone, an extremely strange thing to occur during a training mission. After being continually probed by Admiral Brand and Captain Satelk, Locarno helps out the cadet by blaming the accident on Cadet Albert. Locarno says that Joshua crashed into Cadet Hajar when he panicked while performing the maneuver near Titan. Admiral Brand says that she is disturbed over what has happened. They have displayed a large amount of misjudgment and she is dismayed that the team did not release the information on Joshua's jitteriness on flying before the accident. Admiral Brand says that the first data from a flight recorder would be available that evening. Pending the results, the board of inquiry will be in recess and will reconvene at 1300 hours tomorrow. Cadet Albert's father is visibly dismayed over what the team has said about his son. Locarno tells Wesley Crusher that there's nothing to worry about and to trust him. Act Three Captain Picard asks Chief Engineer La Forge and Data to make their own independent investigation into the crash. La Forge is unsure what they will find outside of the Academy investigation, as they have the most sophisticated accident reconstruction simulation equipment available. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the team meets together to get their stories straight on the next round of questioning in the board of inquiry. Wesley and the rest of the team are angry that they lied to the board of inquiry; however, Locarno insists that it is now time to save their own skin. When asks the team if it truly was Cadet Abert's fault, the team reluctantly agrees to that line--essentially committing to the lie. Locarno then starts to brief Wesley on his flight recorder data that was highly damaged during the accident and only covers the time before the crash. Wesley doesn't believe he can lie to the board, but the team tells him not to volunteer any additional information. Wesley silently agrees. Wesley goes to practice his deposition where he meets Cadet Albert's father. His father brings Wesley something from Joshua's quarters that belongs to him. Wesley identifies it as a momento from a ski trip to Calgary. They reminisce on Cadet Albert, talking about his problems in math and how he never gave up on anything. Cadet Albert had a lot of respect for Wesley. Joshua's father admits that he knows that it was his son's fault and apologizes for letting the team down. The next day, wesley begins his deposition, following along with the video account of the crash from his flight recorder. After his flight recorder shorts out, he gives a narrative of his version of the events. When Admiral Brand asks if he has anything to add, he says no. Captain Satelk suspiciously asks Wesley to describe a Yeager loop. The Captain asks Wesley if Nova Squadron had ever gone out of formation after completing the Yeager loop. Wesley says no. Admiral Brand asks if he is absolutely sure about that. Wesley again says no. Captain Satelk then confronts Wesley with the image from a satellite orbiting Saturn that shows their squadron's ships in a different formation while they were in the satellite's field of view, approximately seven seconds before the accident. When Admiral Brand asks what Wesley's explanation is for this, he has none. Act Four Doctor Crusher comforts Wesley in his quarters and assures him that the Enterprise is going to find out what has happened. She thinks it is strange that the satellite view makes it look like he is lying when she knows he is not. As a result, Doctor Crusher and the other parents got together and decide that they want to delay the inquiry. Wesley is shocked and tells his mother to stay out of the inquiry and not to protect him. Captain Picard has another talk with Boothby, asking him to tell him more about Nova Squadron. Boothby says that after a Parrises squares tournament they considered themselves like God and that was a difficult thing to live up to. Boothby also says that Nova Squadron would do anything for the team leader, Locarno, even if it meant "going off a cliff." Captain Picard returns to the Enterprise and asks if La Forge and Data have come up with anything in their investigation. They say no, stating that there are too many variables to determine exactly what happened; however, one item of note was that Wesley's plasma interlock was open when it is supposed to be closed during flight. It is extremely dangerous, as the interlock may ignite the drive plasma. Given this information and the imagery shown from the satellite, Picard knows what Nova Squadron was trying to do that caused the accident. Act Five Captain Picard invites Wesley Crusher to his ready room. Picard asks him to watch a Culvert Starburst on his display. He says that the maneuver hasn't been performed at the Academy for 100 years because all five cadets had died during the attempt. Captain Picard says that he thinks that Locarno wanted to end his Academy days in a blaze of glory and manipulated the team to perform the meaneuver. He asks Wesley if he is correct. Wesley chooses not to answer. Picard says that he has already answered the board of inquiry--a lie. Wesley says that he has told the truth; however, Picard tells him that he has told a partial truth, which is still a lie. Captain Picard says that he had never questioned Wesley until now. He says that he will make things very easy for Wesley--either tell Admiral Brand the truth about what happened or Picard will. Wesley calls Locarno to his quarters where Wesley tells Locarno that Picard has no evidence and that it will be okay--they simply have to dispute Picard's account because he has no evidence. Wesley can't call Picard a liar and deicdes to tell him what has happened. Locarno is angry because Wesley will make the decision alone to turn them in. Locarno informs Wesley of the duty to his friends. Locarno tells Wesley to resign his Academy commission to save the team and that he would do it without hesitation if he were in Wesley's position. Admiral Brand tells them that the disputing testimony of the satellite and their accounts are troubling; however, she must close the investigation because she has no hard evidence proving that they either have lied or the data from the satellite is faulty. Admiral Brand revokes their flight priveleges and issues a formal reprimand to their records and closes the investigation. Wesley then stands up and admits the truth. Wesley says that Josh died because they pressured him into executing a maneuver that he wasn't ready for. Admiral Brand asks if Locarno has anything to say. He says no. The inquiry has concluded and Wesley is sitting on the grounds of the Academy. Captain Picard arrives and informs Wesley that Locarno was expelled. Wesley thinks they all should have been expelled, but Picard says that Locarno took full responsibility for the team and kept everyone else in school. Admiral Brand also cancels Wesley's academic credits for the previous year and he will not graduate with his class. Captain Picard says that there are difficult times. Wesley thanks Captain Picard for his help. Picard says that Wesley knew what he had to do, Picard just pushed him in the right direction. The two then bid a farewell to each other. Memorable Quotes "Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Class of '27." "I know who you are. What happened to your hair?" : - Picard and Boothby "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it's scientific truth or historical truth or personal truth! It is the guiding principle on which Starfleet is based! If you can't find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened, you don't deserve to wear that uniform!" : - Jean-Luc Picard, to Cadet Wesley Crusher Background Information *Although spoken of since the original series, this is the first appearance of Starfleet Academy, which was filmed on location at Tillman Water Reclamation Plant * Ronald D. Moore also wrote the Deep Space Nine episode "Valiant" that focused on another group of Starfleet cadets, Red Squad. * Robert Duncan McNeill (Cadet Nicholas Locarno) would later play Tom Paris on Star Trek: Voyager, a character partly based on Locarno. It was hoped that Nick Lorcano himself would be a character on Voyager, but when it was realised that such a decision would mean that the writers of this episode would receive royalties for each Voyager episode, it was deemed cost-prohibitive and the character was adjusted to become Tom Paris. * Shannon Fill would subsequently reprise her role as Sito Jaxa in TNG: "Lower Decks".'' * Robert Duncan McNeill said in an interview that while they may seem similar, Locarno and Tom Paris were actually quite different, as while Paris seemed unpleasant and self-serving, deep down he was a good person. Whereas Locarno, while nice and charming on the outside, was actually a really nasty person beneath the surface. * Wesley has a model of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|original Enterprise]] in his quarters. Links and References Guest Stars * Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher * Ray Walston as Boothby * Robert Duncan McNeill as Nicholas Locarno * Ed Lauter as Albert * Richard Fancy as Satelk * Jacqueline Brookes as Brand Co-Stars * Walker Brandt as Jean Hajar * Shannon Fill as Sito Jaxa * Richard Rothenberg as Cadet (uncredited, see Starfleet Academy personnel) References 47 references; Academy Flight Range; Academy Range Officer; Academy training craft; acting ensign; Albert, Joshua; allergy; astrophysics; Bajoran; Betazoid; bicaridine; burn; cadet; calculus; Calgary (Canada); commencement address; coolant interlock; coolant tank; data recorder; diamond slot formation; Earth; emergency transporter; emergency evac station; engine coolant; flight plan; formal reprimand; fracture; Golden Gate Bridge; flag of the Federation; graduation ceremony; herbicide; holodeck; infirmary; inquiry; Kolvoord Starburst; Lefler, Robin; landing strut; Ligonian; maintenance bay; mathematics; memorial service; metorapan; Mimas; Minsk; navigational control satellite; Nova Squadron; Parrises squares; Peliar Zel native; personnel file; plasma; plasma exhaust; power flow; primrose; proximity alarm; rear admiral; reconstructive analysis lab; regeneration series; Rigel Cup; running; ribotherapy; San Francisco; Saturn; sensors; skiing; squadron; Starfleet; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Academy Database; Starfleet Academy personnel; Starfleet uniform (2366-2373); statistical mechanics; superintendent; sweater; Team Navigator; Titan; Vulcan; west garden; wrestling; Yeager loop Timeline ;2260s ;2324 ;2327 ;2368 First Duty, The de:Ein mißglücktes Manöver nl:The First Duty